The present invention relates to a novel silicone-based fabric finishing agent and a fabric material finished therewith. More particularly, the invention relates to a silicone-based fabric finishing agent particularly suitable for finishing a fabric material containing keratinous fibers such as wool to impart the treated fabric material with excellent shrink-proofness and softness capable of withstanding laundering as well as a keratinous fiber-containing fabric material finished therewith.
As is well known, fabric materials made of keratinous fibers such as, typically, wool in general have a problem that undesirable phenomena of shrinkage and felting take place in the fabric material when it is laundered in an aqueous washing bath. Various kinds of fabric finishing agents have been proposed and practically used with an object to prevent or reduce such undesirable phenomena of shrinkage and felting by laundering, of which silicone-based ones are most widely used in the fabric industry. For example, Japanese Patent Publication 48-33435 discloses a silicone-based fabric finishing agent which is a solution of a linear-chain dimethylpolysiloxane having a viscosity of at least 50 centistokes at 25.degree. C. and terminated at each molecular chain end with a silanolic hydroxy group and a methyl hydrogen polysiloxane in an organic solvent with admixture of a catalyst. Japanese Patent Publication 48-38036 teaches a fabric-finishing method by using a solution of a high-polymeric organopolysiloxane and a catalyst in a chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent. Japanese Patent Publication 53-28468 teaches a fabric-finishing agent comprising diorganopolysiloxanes having amino groups and alkoxy groups as the principal ingredients. Japanese Patent Publication 58-4114 teaches a fabric-finishing agent comprising organopolysiloxanes having mercapto groups and amino groups as the principal ingredients.
Although these silicone-based fabric-finishing agents of the prior art are to some extent effective to prevent shrinkage of keratinous fiber-made fabric materials by laundering but the shrink-proofness obtained thereby is still insufficient. In addition, another disadvantage is unavoidable in the fabric material finished with such a fabric finishing agent that the feeling of touch of the fabric material is badly affected to decrease the commercial value of the finished fabric material.